Comoros National Library Centre National de Documentation et de Recherche Scientifique (CNDRS)

History and Founding

The Comoros National Library is a division of the Centre National de Documentation et de Recherche Scientifique (CNDRS), Comoros's national research and documentation center, located in Moroni on the island of Grande Comore. The CNDRS was established in 1979 and serves as the umbrella body for the National Library, the National Archives, and the National Museum of Comoros. The library is a member of the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie.

Collections and Holdings

The library holds collections relevant to Comorian history, culture, and society, with materials in French, Arabic, and Comorian languages (Shikomori). The CNDRS also holds a significant national sound archive of approximately 1,000 magnetic audio tapes documenting Comorian cultural practice and oral history, constituted largely during the founding directorship of Damir Ben Ali. A digitization project supported by the British Library's Endangered Archives Programme successfully digitized these tapes, with digital files accessible through a dedicated terminal at the CNDRS facility.

Access and Usage

The National Library is open to the public and supports in-person research. The institution has a limited online presence due to constraints in web infrastructure. The website previously accessible at cndrs-comores.org is currently only findable via the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. Researchers are advised to verify current contact information before visiting, as operational details may have changed.